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OFFICIAL DONATION. 




AARON THOMAS BLISS 



memorial of 

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Born May 22, 1837, in Smithfield, Madison County, New- 
York. 

Enlisted, as a volunteer in Company D, Tenth New York 
Cavalry, October 11, 1861, sergeant; later commissioned 
first lieutenant; captain, 1862; in service three years and 
five months, six months of which were passed in captivity 
as a prisoner of war. 

Senator, 25th district, Saginaw county, 1883-84. 

Member, Board of Managers of the Michigan Soldiers' 
Home, 1885-89. 

Representative in 51st Congress, eighth district, 1889-90. 

Department commander, Michigan, Grand Army of the 
Republic, 1897. 

Governor of Michigan, 1901, 02, 03, 04. 

Died, September 16, 1906. 



The select committee of the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives, appointed to arrange a program of exercises 
in memory of the late ex-Governor Aaron T. Bliss, make 
the following recommendation : 

That the Senate and House of Representatives convene 
in joint session in the Hall of Representatives on Wednesday, 
April 24, 1907, at 2:10 p. m., and that the memorial exer- 
cises be made a special order for that day. 

The committee further report that Rev. Luther Ellsworth 
Lovejoy, D. D., of Saginaw, will deliver an invocation, 
and that Hon. Washington Gardner, Rev. August F. Bruske, 
D. D., president of Alma College, Hon. Arthur Hill, former 
Governor John T. Rich, Governor Fred. M. Warner, Hon. 
Charles Smith, Hon. M. H. Moriarty and Hon. O. B. Fuller 
will take part in the exercises. 

The state officers, the justices of the Supreme Court, 
the officers of the Military Department of the G. A. R., 
and of the Spanish War veterans, will be invited to attend. 
Cards of invitation will be furnished the members of the' 
two houses severally for distribution. 

A detailed program of exercises is in preparation and 
will be in readiness on the day appointed for the memorial. 

The report was accepted and adopted. 



Lansing, April, 24, 1907. In the House of Represen- 
tatives. 

The Speaker announced the arrival of the hour for the 
Memorial Exercises in honor of Former Governor Aaron 
T. Bliss. 

The Speaker appointed Representatives J. H. Monroe, 



Harris and Woodruff a committee to notify the Senate 
that the House was ready to meet in joint convention. 
The Lieutenant Governor and members of the Senate 
were admitted and conducted to seats in the Hall of Repre- 
sentatives. 



ilmnt Hfomnrial Hixmi&tB 



and employed at various remunerative employments, 
thus providing them with a measure of independence otherwise 
impossible to many persons in their condition. 



The following communication received by Mr. Greusel 
of the joint committee was read: 

Detroit, Mich., April 23, 1907. 
Hon. Joseph Greusel, 

Lansing, Michigan. 
My dear Sir: — 

Your esteemed favor of the 18th duly received, also formal 
invitation to attend the memorial exercises of ex-Governor 
Bliss. I had made my plans to be present, but at the last 
moment find that circumstances beyond my control will 
prevent my doing so. I regret to lose the opportunity of 
being present on this occasion to listen to and take part in 
these proceedings in memory of our distinguished friend. 
I am the only living ex-Governor and regret that the former 
Governors of Michigan should fail of representation on this 
memorable occasion. I also desire to show my personal 
respect and appreciation of the man and his life work. How- 
ever, old tried and true friends of Governor Bliss will do 
this more exhaustively and eloquently than I could possibly 
do and I must be content to send my sincere regrets. 

Very respectfully yours, 

John T. Rich. 



Senator Fyfe, on behalf of the joint committee, offered 
the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the Legislature of the state of Michigan 
expresses its profound sorrow on account of the death of 
Honorable Aaron T. Bliss, ex-Governor of Michigan, at 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the sixteenth day of September, 
A. D. 1906. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased, the business of the Senate and House of 
Representatives, in joint convention assembled, be 
now suspended to enable those associated with him in 
his civil, military and public career, to pay proper tribute 
to his high character and distinguished services; and be 
it further 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the mem- 
ory of the deceased, the joint convention, at the con- 
clusion of the exercises of this day, shall stand adjourned: 
and 

Resolved further, That as a mark of the approval by 
the people of the state, of the life and character of Aaron 
T. Bliss, and their devotion to his memory, as well as 
an expression of their sympathy in their great bereave- 
ment, a copy of these resolutions, suitably engrossed, be 
prepared and transmitted to the family of the deceased. 
The question being on the adoption of the resolution, 
Governor [Fred M. Warner, Congressman Washington 
Gardner, Senators Oramel B. Fuller, Charles Smith and 
Michael H. Moriarty, Hon. Arthur Hill and Rev. August F. 
Bruske, President of Alma College, addressed the joint 
convention. 

The resolution was then unanimously adopted. 



On motion of Senator Fyfe, the joint convention adjourned, 
the time being 4:30 o'clock p. m. 
The exercises were arranged by the joint select committee: 
Senate. 

Andrew Fyfe, Grand Rapids. 

Joseph H. Whitney, Merrill. 

Augustus C. Carton, East Tawas. 
House. 

Joseph Greusel, Detroit. 

Grant M. Hudson, Schoolcraft. 

Charles H. Waters, Saginaw. 

The exercises were in accordance with the following: 



programme 

Invocation Rev. Luther Lovejoy, D. D. 

Pastor First M. E. Church Saginaw, W. S. 
Double Quartette, "Lead, Kindly Light " 

School for the Blind 
Opening Remarks Hon. P. H. Kelley 

Lieutenant Governor of Michigan 
Resolutions Hon. Andrew Fyfe 

Chairman Joint Committee 
Arion Quartette, Saginaw, Michigan 

"Nearer, My God to Thee" 
Address Hon. Fred M. Warner 

Governor of Michigan 
Address Hon. Oramel B. Fuller 

Acting Lieutenant Governor under Ex-Gov. Bliss 
Solo, "Abide with Me" (Smith) Mrs. James Sheldon 

Address Hon. Washington Gardner 

Member of Congress, Third District, Michigan 
Address Rev. August F. Bruske, D. D. 

President of Alma College 
Arion Quartette, Saginaw "Coming Down the Valley" 

Address Hon. Arthur Hill 

Saginaw, Michigan 
Address Hon. Charles Smith 

State Senator, Thirty-Second District, Michigan 
Address Hon. Michael H. Moriarty 

State Senator, Thirty-First District, Michigan 
Chorus, "The Lord is Great" School for the Blind 



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This service here to-day is not intended as the service of 
individuals. We are not here acting for ourselves. We 
have come here on behalf of the state of Michigan to speak 
a word concerning the life and public service of former Gov. 
Bliss, and to assure those near of kin whom he has left behind 
of the kindly sympathy of the people of our state and his. 

It is not our purpose here to-day to say that Gov. Bliss, 
in the administration of the high offices to which he had been 
called by the people made no mistakes — for who is there who 
makes no mistakes? 

It can always be said, however, for former Gov. Bliss, that his 
moral character and business ability, his remarkable progress 
from obscurity to power in public and private life, his loyalty 
to a friend, his faithfulness to a promise, his sympathy for 
the weak and those in distress, his love for his home and 
family, for his state and for his country insure for him a 
permanent place in the history of this commonwealth. 



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The one whose memory we honor to-day was of that type 
who, born amid humble surroundings and denied the ordinary 
opportunities for education and development in their earlier 
years, nevertheless, through sheer native energy and persist- 
ence, press manfully onward until they make for themselves 
places of honor and distinction among their fellows. 

The early life of Aaron T. Bliss was fraught with many 
hardships. Born on a rugged New York State farm, his 
parents were not able to permit him to enjoy to the full even 
the meagre educational advantages afforded by the rural 
school system of that early day. His services, as soon as 
he was able to perform any manual labor, were needed on 
the farm. Here he labored faithfully, attending the nearby 
country school at such times as he could be spared from the 
farm, contributing of his brawn to the support of a large 
family of brothers and sisters and otherwise manifesting his 
love for his parents and his regard for their commands. 
Forced by circumstances to leave home at an early age he 
found himself when seventeen years old thrown entirely 
upon his own resources. Thenceforward he carved his own 
way to success and fortune, depending wholly upon himself 
and guided alone by his own judgment. 

The breaking out of the war of the rebellion found him 
clerking in a village store. The President's call to arms 
brought from him an early response. Enlisting as a private, 



he was soon promoted to a lieutenancy and was finally given 
a captain's commission for gallant conduct on the field of 
battle. Captured at the close of a fiercely fought rear- 
guard action he suffered for six months as a prisoner of war 
in the prison pens at Salsbury, Andersonville, Macon, Charle- 
ston and Columbia. What horrors he endured during this 
long confinement no tongue can tell. In common with his 
fellow prisoners he suffered every indignity hostile human 
ingenuity could devise, yet with them he remained ever loyal 
to his country and his flag, casting a black bean for Abraham 
Lincoln in the face of threats that this action meant prolonged 
imprisonment and increased hardships. 

Finally the opportunity long sought presented itself and 
he made his escape from Columbia prison only to wander, 
beset with the gravest perils and constantly facing starva- 
tion for eighteen weary days and nights before reaching the 
Union lines and safety. 

No soldier of the rebellion had a better record than Aaron 
T. Bliss and it was due to that same tireless energy and faith- 
fulness to duty that characterized his conduct in all the 
walks of life. 

After giving nearly four years of his life to the service of 
his country, he came to Michigan and took up the duties and 
responsibilities of civil life. Here again his energy and strict 
attention to the task in hand made for success and he forged 
steadily forward in the business world until he occupied a com- 
manding position therein. Constantly enlarging the field of 
his activities, he came to be identified with many of the 
enterprises which had so much to do with the development 
and beautification of the Saginaw Valley. Throughout this 
important section of our grand state he left his imprint which 
years will not efface. 



Early in life he was called upon by his fellow citizens to 
represent them in public office, and he served his home city 
as alderman, supervisor and member of the board of education. 
Later he was a senator in the legislature of his state, being 
subsequently advanced to a place in the council halls of the 
nation. 

In the meantime those who had stood by his side on the 
battle fields of the civil war and shared with him the horrors 
of southern prisons manifested their love and respect for 
him by making him Commander-in-Chief of the Michigan 
Department of the Grand Army of the Republic, a position 
than which there can be none more honorable. 

Finally called to the chief magistracy of a great state, this 
modest, unassuming, faithful servant of the people gave his 
undivided attention to his new duites and, as in all other 
positions of trust, gave to the discharge of these duties his 
best and most conscientious judgment. To say that he made 
no errors would be to assert that he was more than human, 
but justice demands that it be said that such errors as he made 
were on the side of mercy, uninfluenced by all else than the 
frailties of human judgment. He was an honest man and 
honesty of purpose characterized his actions in public life 
and private station. 

The home life of our departed friend was perfect. All 
who were privileged to know of it were charmed by its 
purity and simplicity. His benefactions were manifold and 
unostentatious. Throughout the city of his home and the 
state he loved there are scattered substantial evidences of 
his goodness of heart and love for his fellowmen that will 
serve to keep his memory green for generations yet to come. 

It is well that the representatives of the people of the state 
he faithfully served in many capacities should pause in their 



deliberations for the welfare of the state to do honor to his 
memory and thus instill in the minds of the rising genera- 
tion a lesson of patriotism and devotion to duty that will 
make for better citizenship and better government. 



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^ntt. <§vumzl 8. duller, of Joro Su*r 

Acting Lieutenant Governor during part of the admin- 
istration of Gov. Bliss. 

I had the honor and also the pleasure of serving in both 
sessions of the legislature during the administration of 
Governor Bliss, and I came to know him intimately and 
well and I always found him to be actuated by a high regard 
for the welfare of the state. His^was a kind and friendly 
nature, and when in the course of his duty he could not com- 
ply with the wishes or grant the requests of a friend, he was 
greatly grieved. Governor Bliss had his enemies, most of 
us have, and the man who does not make enemies, cannot 
make friends. Governor Bliss typified the highest ideal of 
American citizenship, a patriot, loyal to his country and his 
flag. He was one of those who in the darkest days of our 
country's history volunteered for her defence, and losing 
sight of self he went forth to fight his country's battles for 
love of country and for the right, and after the war was over 
when the grand army was mustered out, he took his place 
in the ranks of those who have by their efforts and achieve- 
ments advanced our state to the proud position she now 
holds among our sister states. It was efforts such as these 
that has made our country the foremost nation in the world. 

As an index to the character of Governor Bliss and his 
love for his fellowmen, it is related that when his company 
of which he was captain was captured and the known horrors 
of Andersonville was before him, he tore off his shoulder 



straps and all insignia of his rank so as to share the hardship 
of his men, though it was known that commissioned officers 
received better treatment from their Confederate captors. 
He did not stay in Andersonville very long as a sergeant of 
his company informed a Confederate officer that their captain 
was with them and Captain Bliss was transferred to Macon. 
Governor Bliss may be the last governor of Michigan who 
saw service in the civil war and it is a melancholy fact to 
contemplate that all of the actors of those stirring events 
will soon leave us and be called upon to pass in review before 
the Grand Commander of all armies and when that sad time 
shall come and "Taps" have been sounded over the last of 
our brave defenders, then the people will realize that they 
did not appreciate them and their services when they should 
have done so. Michigan has not kept pace with her sister 
states in honoring her heroes. Governor Bliss served his city 
and state in the various positions of honor and trust to which 
he had been called, faithfully and well, and his life will be 
an inspiration to young American manhood. 



2S 



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<E0tt0r*00man WasfytttgUm (&wcbwt, at Album 

For the second time within the current month the repre- 
sentatives of the legislative, executive and judicial branches 
of the state government assemble to do honor to a deceased 
governor of the commonwealth. A singular fatality has 
attended the men whom, in the past, the state has most 
honored and entrusted with public responsibility. 

Of those who have preceded the present occupant of the 
executive chair, John T. Rich alone survives. Thomas W. 
Palmer is the sole living representative of those who have 
retired from the senate of the United States after a full term, 
or more, of service therein. A like mortality is seen among 
the jurists who have occupied places upon our supreme bench, 
Allen B. Morse being the only one living, not now in 
active service, who was elected to the state's highest legal 
tribunal. 

When it is recalled that with rare exceptions the conspic- 
uous of one generation are unremembered by the next ; when 
in the quiet hour we reflect that men in public life are often 
belittled and their faults magnified, their motives questioned 
and traduced, their faithful and conscientious efforts to 
serve the people unappreciated and misrepresented, their 
private lives exposed to the morbid gaze and the inuendoes 
of an unfriendly public and even the sanctity of the domestic 
relations invaded and made to do service if their publicity 
will help or hinder the political ambitions of persons or parties ; 
when, as is often the case, private welfare must be made sub- 



servient to the public good and opportunities to obtain a 
competency must of necessity be passed unimproved, we 
are led to ask, what are the compensations commensurate 
with the interests imperilled? Is it for reputation and 
possible fame? Then all is "vanity and vexation of spirit." 
Is it to sip from the delicious nectar of public applause? 
Then every cup is mingled with wormwood and gall. If 
the gratification of personal ambition, the pleasures or the 
emoluments of office, or the fleeting reputation attained 
were all or the chief results, most men, with knowledge 
gained by experience, would declare that public life does 
not pay. 

When, however, we call to mind that government as con- 
stituted in these United States, and in most of the several 
states, is the best civic expression of the civilization of the 
centuries; that it is what it is because of the blood and the 
tears, the woe and the death, the labor and the sacrifice of 
the generations that have preceded us, and that its care is 
a sacred legacy, and its preservation and betterment a solemn 
duty entrusted to the generation to which we belong, then 
public service whether municipal, state, or national, whether 
legislative, judicial, or executive imposes obligations which 
cannot be honorably or safely ignored or put aside. 

Constitutions, statutes, and institutions have been con- 
structed, enacted, and built up largely by those entrusted 
with place and power. What though the builders are for- 
gotten, if that for which they toiled remains, and that which 
they builded endures to benefit and bless mankind. An 
honorable even though an inconspicuous part in the con- 
structive forces that make for a higher and a better civil- 
ization is no mean service and is the faithful public servant's 
chief compensation — his enduring memorial. 



The people of Michigan are forever obligated to the men 
around whom and through whom have grown up and de- 
veloped those distinctive features which have given our 
commonwealth honorable rank among the foremost states 
in the Union. The penal and the reformatory, the eleemos- 
ynary and the educational institutions are monuments that 
speak more eloquently than human lips of the character and 
purpose of those who have lived and wrought during the 
seventy years of the state's history. The guiding hand, the 
sagacious brain, the patriotic intent of every governor from 
Mason to Warner can be traced in these visible evidences of 
the unfolding purpose and design of those who have builded 
better even than they knew. In this company of worthy 
men Aaron T. Bliss will ever hold an honorable place. He 
was born in the state of New York, the same year Michigan 
was admitted into the Union. He came from the middle 
class of society. His parents were neither rich nor poor, 
but there being a large family the future governor early 
learned the wholesome lessons of self-help and self-denial. 
The opening of the civil war found him, a young man of 
twenty-three, clerking in a village store in his native state. 
He was vigorous of body, active of mind, and ambitious of 
purpose. Having an inherited taste for the military, when 
the call came for volunteers he promptly responded. His 
career as a soldier, while wholly creditable, was not partic- 
ularly conspicuous. Patriotism, soldierly intelligence, cour- 
age, and unflinching fidelity to duty brought him a captaincy 
of cavalry and an honorable position in the confidence and 
esteem of his comrades in war which he ever after retained 
in peace. 

Like so many other soldiers of three or more years' service, 
the war left him with a commendable military record but 



no money. He came to Michigan to reside almost immedi- 
ately after the end of the great conflict. Henceforth the 
sphere of his activities was confined largely to his adopted 
state. 

For many years his thought and energies were given almost 
wholly to business. As a man of affairs he ranked among 
the successful men of the state. He had capacity for large 
enterprises, and in health and when public duties did not 
interfere, he managed these with sagacity and success. No 
stain rests upon his financial integrity. 

He was a zealous member of the Grand Army of the Republic 
and always a good friend of his comrades by whom he was 
elected a department commander for Michigan. To him the 
veterans of Michigan owe much for the existence of the state 
soldiers' home. He held the honorary position of colonel 
on the staff of the late Gov. Alger. 

Deprived of an education, in the modern acceptance of 
the word, he was solicitous that others should have that 
which he did not possess. For many years before his death 
one or more young men or women were constantly in some 
institution of learning at his expense, and so reticent was he 
that only by accident or from knowledge gained through 
others was it known even to his closest friends. At least 
three institutions of collegiate grade were made the material 
beneficiaries of his generous liberality. 

In his church relations he was modest and unassuming. 
The divine Father found recognition in his heart and home 
while the visible church of His son had in him a generous and 
constant supporter. On a multitude of subscription lists 
to church building funds in the Saginaw Valley, and not a 
few outside, will be found his name and opposite a liberal 
contribution. The poor, and the unfortunate had in him an 



unfailing friend and a generous benefactor. These are illus- 
trative of the character and spirit of the man in private 
life whose public service we this day commemorate. 

He held many elective positions, each successive one 
indicating a growing confidence reposed in him by his fellow 
citizens. Alderman, supervisor and member of the public 
school board in his home city; state senator, and governor 
of the commonwealth and member of the national House 
of Representatives. These tell their own story. While 
his service in the national ligislature was covered by a single 
term, it resulted in permanent value to his district. The 
beautiful federal building in Saginaw and the noble insti- 
tution for the education of Indian children located at Mount 
Pleasant, are visible evidences of his energy and his influence 
among his fellow congressmen. 

As governor, his administration fell upon comparatively 
uneventful times. He was subjected to criticisms inseparable 
from the conflicting interests that focus in that funtionary, 
whoever he may be or whenever he may serve. He sought 
to give the state a business administration. Its many 
interests were studied and looked after with the same care 
and solicitude that successful men give to private enter- 
prises. How well he succeeded is a matter of record. No 
scandals attach to his conduct of the state's most important 
affairs. No charges of public graft were alleged. His 
personal and official integrity were above suspicion. In 
the clarifying light of time his administration of the great 
office of governor stands forth free from serious blemishes. 
His life will be an inspiration to young men who, unaided 
and alone, have their way to make in the world. His career 
and accomplishments have already become a part of the 
imperishable treasures which its worthy public men bequeath 
to the state. 



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JJrast&eut August JfL Urusltf , i. 1., of Ahua Qlnlkn* 

In the forest of Friedrichsruh, Germany, there is a solitary 
grave — above it a modest column of marble. The name 
upon it is that of Otto von Bismark. The inscription be- 
neath "A servant of William I." Of course the Iron Chancellor 
had himself dictated the epitaph. In that solemn moment 
when he was face to face with time and eternity he forgot 
that he was the founder of an empire, the ruler of Kings, 
the arbiter of the destinies of Europe. He desired to be 
remembered only as the servant of a King. 

Even so with almost literal accuracy we may repeat the 
essentials of the story. In Oakwood Cemetery, in a part of 
our commonwealth there is a grave, with modest stone above 
it. Upon it is the name of Aaron T. Bliss, and beneath it 
the fitting inscription would be "A servant of the people." 
I venture to say that in the final analysis this was the one 
ambition of his life — it is the one key to his character, the 
explanation of what he was and what he did. 

i. This ambition made him a volunteer soldier at the 
first call to arms. In a little Methodist church at Bonkville, 
N. Y., there is a bronze tablet. At the top is the coat of 
arms of the State of New York. The inscription beneath 
it is "In this meeting house on, Oct. nth, 1861, those whose 
names are given below offered themselves to their country 
to save the Union." Immediately beneath are thirty-six 
names, among them that of Aaron T. Bliss. Let it be re- 
membered that he enlisted "to save the Union." It was 



not because he "sought the bubble reputation in the cannon's 
mouth," but because he wanted to serve his fellowmen by 
rescuing the Union from the hands of those who sought to 
destroy it. He began as a private soldier. Making himself 
conspicuously useful in the ranks he was soon promoted. 
For gallantry of service he rose to the office of a sergeant, and 
lieutenant and a captain. During those awful years 
of strife and death he was tested in every way that a man can 
be tried: — in victory and in defeat — in success and in dis- 
aster — in hunger and in thirst — in weary marches and long 
nights of vigil. In June, 1864, his command was taken 
prisoners. Fearful that he might escape, the enemy trans- 
ferred him from one prison pen to another, from Anderson- 
ville to Macon — from Macon to Charleston — from Charleston 
to Columbia. In spite of these changes he succeeded in 
making his escape. For seventeen days and nights he 
wandered in forests and swamps till he reached the lines 
of Sherman's army in their famous and triumphant "March 
to the Sea." 

When the strife was ended and the same flag floated once 
more over all the states, he returned to his home with the 
supreme satisfaction that he had faithfully served his country 
and had done his utmost to save it from disruption and dis- 
union. 

These four years of patriotic service he could never forget. 
No friends were so dear to him as the comrades of the war — ■ 
no subject of conversation or public address so welcome to 
him as the story of the great civil war — no emblem was so 
dear to him as that of the "Stars and Stripes.'' 

2. That Governor Bliss was one of the bravest of soldiers 
has never been questioned, even by the bitterest enemy. 
But in 1865 the last gun was fired, the sword was sheathed 



and the volunteer soldier was face to face with a different 
task. He must now become a citizen of the great Republic 
and seek to snatch victory out of the keen and doubtful 
contest of business. Aaron T. Bliss the citizen came to 
Michigan and chose for his vocation that of a lumberman. 
In this he was both fortunate and wise. Fortunate, for 
there were hardly such opportunities of certain and large 
reward in any other sphere of activity. O, what fortunes lay 
beneath the green plumes of those glorious pine trees ! What 
wealth in those almost unbroken forests stretching from 
Saginaw to Mackinaw and from Grand Rapids to the Straits ! 
These fortunes, however, were not for all. They were for 
the wise, the prudent, the courageous, the persistent. Many 
entered into the contest for wealth, few were successful. 
Very conspicuous among the latter was Aaron T. Bliss, and 
great was his satisfaction in consequence. Not that he 
loved money for its own sake. In itself it had no more 
attraction for him than a heap of shining sand. He rejoiced 
in its possession as a means of doing good — as a tool with 
which he could render a larger service to his fellowmen. It 
made it possible for him to have the happiness of the philan- 
thropist. Upon this point I can speak with the utmost 
confidence. For thirteen years I was not only a fellow citizen 
with him "of no mean city;" I was also his neighbor. 
We were not of the same church, possibly not of the same 
faith; but we were often together, where I had abundant 
opportunity to observe that Aaron T. Bliss was one of those 
very few men — O, how few! — who are absolutely pleased 
to have the opportunity of doing good. 

Like Nathan the Wise in Lessing's famous drama, he was 
so ambitious in benevolence, that he would have every 
"Thank you, and God bless you" that was uttered in the 



world directed toward himself. In this spirit he was most 
catholic and impartial. Of course it was most frequently- 
directed toward the old soldiers. They came to him from 
every part of the State. They came to him with their wounds 
and their misfortunes, and they went away helped and com- 
forted. Not less welcome was the stranger from a foreign land. 
It was enough that he was a fellowman in distress — in need 
of food, in need of a physician, in need of a friend — the 
heart, the hand, the purse of Governor Bliss were immediately 
open. And so in a still larger view, to beautify the city of 
his home, to multiply the happiness of its citizens — to carry 
forward the great enterprises of education and Christianity — 
this was his constant endeavor. To such an amazing extent 
is this true that he gave almost beyond his ability. His 
own life habits were simple and economical that he might 
the more abundantly gratify his love for generosity. I 
venture to say that among the many public benefactors of 
our State, there has not yet arisen one who gave to the public 
good in proportion to his means such large and various gifts 
as Aaron T. Bliss. Do I need witnesses to corroborate this 
statement? I call upon the fountains and parks and public 
buildings of his home city — upon the many comrades in 
arms delivered from poverty and pain together with their 
widows and orphans — upon the churches and colleges estab- 
lished and endowed by his princely generosity, upon those 
pioneers of civilization, in the home land and in foreign lands, 
the missionaries, sent forth by the God speed and supported 
by the benefaction of the man we remember to-day — let 
them bear witness to the truth here spoken. All honor to 
the man surrounded by "such a cloud of witnesses." 

As a successful lumberman who used his wealth in the 
spirit of philanthropy, Aaron T. Bliss is in the best of company. 



He belongs to that honored group of men who did not take 
their fortunes, acquired in Michigan, to the East, where they 
were not needed; but who remained among us converting 
the pineries of the past into fertile farms and beautifying the 
towns and cities of our State with the monuments of their 
genius and generosity. Of this distinguished company are 
Russell Alger, of Detroit, Aaron T. Bliss, of Saginaw, Charles 
Hackley, of Muskegon, John R. Peters, of Manistee, and 
Ammi W. Wright, of Alma. 

3. And now may I ask for the privilege of considering a 
very different phase of his character? We often say that 
the office should seek the man, not man the office. Of 
Governor Bliss it should be said that the office sought the 
man and the man sought the office. His fellow citizens 
delighted to do him honor. They made him an alderman for 
four years, a supervisor for ten years, a member of the school 
board for twelve years, the treasurer of the Michigan Soldiers' 
Home for five years, the Vice President of the National League 
of Republican Clubs, the Commander of the Grand Army of 
the Republic in Michigan, a member of the fifty-first Congress 
and twice Governor of this imperial State. These positions 
the people gladly gave him, but he also coveted them. They 
gave him the opportunity of serving his fellowmen. In 
this career of noble ambition he had one great disappoint- 
ment. He thoroughly understood that the largest and 
highest places of usefulness were closed to him because of 
his lack of an early education. The self-made man without 
college training may still be much, but he may not do every- 
thing. The invitations to a seat in the United States Senate, 
to a place in the Cabinet of the President, to the position of 
our Nation's representative in the courts of kings abroad, 
— these with rarest exceptions are offered only to men of liberal 



education in college or university. This was well understood 
by Governor Bliss. It was the sorrow of his life. Those 
four most precious years from 19 to 23 which he glorified by 
his heroism as a soldier — he nevertheless lost as a citizen. 
His school fellows entered college and gained a discipline of 
memory and reason which he ever after coveted, but never 
could obtain. What a sorrow it was to him that he could 
not make a speech, that he had neither the language nor the 
perspective, nor the self-command, nor the poise of the student 
and the scholar. He was the caged eagle beating his wings 
against the wires of his early limitations. What larger work 
would he not have undertaken! What greater service for 
his country and humanity if he had had a liberal education! 
The depth of his disappointment we will understand only 
as we measure the depth of his love for his fellowmen. He 
would serve them in the largest measure because he loved 
them with all his heart. I am sure that if the deepest ex- 
pression of his thought were to be brought to us to-day, 
the message would be "Speak of me, remember me as one 
who loved his fellowmen." That love was catholic and 
universal. There was not a human face divine in which he 
did not recognize a brother. Lazarus at the gate and Dives 
at the banquet were alike objects of his love. The million- 
aire in his automobile, bowing his polite greetings as he passed, 
and the beggar at the street corner were equally welcome. 
The getting of a fortune could not alienate him from the 
poor, nor the losing of one make him envious toward the 
rich. It has fallen to the lot of few public men within my 
recollection to be more thoroughly misunderstood and more 
bitterly misrepresented by political foes than was Governor 
Bliss. In the midst of it all his spirit remained sweet and 
his confidence in the goodness of human nature unshaken. 



Never have I heard that a word of bitterness escaped his 
lips in public or in private. He was first, last and all the 
time a living illustration of that finest stanza in that finest 
of English poems, the Ancient Mariner: — 

"He prayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small 
For the dear God who loveth us 
He made and loveth all." 

4. Friends and brethren : — Is there anything better that we 
can say of any man? We have not, as a State, especially 
distinguished ourselves for the brilliant men we have given 
to the public service. True it is that a Lewis Cass and a 
Zach Chandler deserved a place beside a Daniel Webster 
and a Roscoe Conkling ; but these are the only two who have 
won the admiration of mankind for their brilliant intellectual 
achievements. Some deserve our gratitude because of their 
great courage and superb loyalty to duty. Such was Austin 
Blair who in the granite strength of his manhood looks down 
upon your city. Such was Hazen Pingree, whose colossal 
image stands giantlike in the midst of the city adorned by his 
genius. These men receive and deserve the reverence of 
every patriotic citizen of Michigan. But Russell A. Alger 
and Aaron T. Bliss appeal to our hearts as brothers. They 
loved and served us with every power of their being. 

A few weeks ago I was in the Capitol of the nation. I 
had not seen it since the days of the civil war. Of course 
I found my way into the Senate chamber, into the visitors' 
gallery of the House of Representatives. I looked down 
upon those men in the midst of their toil — upon you, Sir 
(Mr. Washington Gardner). You appeared weary and 
burdened. I silently prayed that God might give you and 



your associates the strength and wisdom to legislate and 
, carry the burdens of eighty millions of people. I wandered 
into Statuary Hall, stood before the classic face of Senator 
Ingalls, thought of his finest sayings, his most brilliant repar- 
tees — they did not move me in my in my inmost soul. Not 
far away and yet quite alone, I saw the saddest face on which 
my eyes have ever rested. I had seen it once before — not 
in bronze but in the flesh. I saw it in 1865 in an upper cham- 
ber of the Capitol of Illinois. I saw it on the day of my 
greatest privilege in life, when I was permitted to march in 
the procession that carried to its last resting place the body 
of Abraham Lincoln. More than forty years had passed. 
Here was the same face in bronze which I saw then in death. 
The same feelings of love and sorrow thrilled me again. What 
is the mysterious power that draws all men to this face? It 
is the face of one who loved his fellowmen. These men we 
can not forget. The gratitude which they inspire may not 
always be world wide. It may extend only to a state or a 
community — depending on the wider or narrower circle of 
the man's influence. Whosoever loves and serves will be 
remembered. Among those who deserve this distinction we 
modestly place the name of Aaron T. Bliss. 



4" 



^flti. Arthur ijtll 






ijrm. Arthur ^Ul, of $axfmtuii 

The last speaker reminds us that we miss "the touch of 
the vanished hand and the sound of the voice that is still." 
But fortunate is the man who makes friends who can speak 
of him so eloquently and justly after he has left us. 

I acknowledge your kind favor, gentlemen of the Legis- 
lature, in permitting a friend and neighbor of Aaron T. Bliss 
for over a third of a century to state to this concourse of 
people what manner of man he was as looked upon by his 
home people, by those who knew him longest and loved him 
most. 

When a man dies there is a final reckoning of his accounts 
with his fellowmen, not only in the probate court where 
financial matters only are considered, but in that court of 
broader jurisdiction, which makes a finding as to what his 
credits are in the line of integrity, unselfish service, true 
generosity and due consideration of the rights of others. 

If such like acts and qualities predominate then he is morally 
solvent and leaves along with his property estate, a good 
name. 

The old Bible saying that "a good name is better than 
great riches' ' was never more evidently true than now. Men 
with greater wealth than ancient Croesus are vainly trying 
to recover reputations lost in the ruthless pursuit of riches, 
which now pall upon them because they can not, with all 
they possess, buy back a good name and the respect and love 
that go with it. 



Governor Bliss had a strong business ambition. He 
labored hard and long and to the end to gain and maintain 
a fortune. He was industrious, frugal, and persistent, yet 
never did he grind the faces of the poor, nor directly or in- 
directly take more than was duly his from any man. 

You may say that this was only common honesty, but 
may I not mention it in these days of large affairs, when too 
often the right hand don't want to know what the left hand 
is doing. 

Mark in this connection the sacrifices our friend made 
during his business life to public and private service. 

His eloquent comrade has told us of the years spent on 
the field and in prison, during which time he saw other young 
men gathering wealth and with his strong business instinct 
this might have been to him galling. But he treated his 
army service always, not as a sacrifice rendered but a duty 
performed. 

When, after the war he came to our State and entered upon 
his remarkable business career, crowded with vast and varied 
industrial enterprises, he became known as one of those rare 
business men who could always find time to serve the public 
with capacity and conscience in the humblest positions. 

He was, as has been stated, for years alderman, supervisor, 
school trustee, member of boards and of the various com- 
mittees which dealt with the public welfare, and that golden 
thread of unselfish service to country, to community, 
fraternity and to friends runs through and illumines the warp 
and woof of his whole life. 

Aaron T. Bliss was a generous man. He gave not only of 
his substance and his sympathy but once fairly won it was 
his way to give the work of his own hand; he helped. 

The poor he had always with him for they knew him as 
a friend. 

5° 



A widow, who with her children he had for years befriended, 
was the first person permitted by the family to look upon 
him after death. She gazed down into his face tearfully, and 
as if he heard her, said "You'll be saved, you were so good to 
me and the children. I know you are not a Catholic, but 
my prayers and the prayers of the children that you have 
been like a father to, they will save you.' ' 

I have said that Aaron T. Bliss was a generous man. I 
shall now say in open frankness a few words about certain 
public bequests in his will that may not be paid in full. 

When these bequests were made the property back of them 
was ample to provide for them. But as many of you know, 
Governor Bliss broke down in health during his gubernatorial 
administration. 

The day of physical reckoning had come. The under- 
mining years of army service ; the strenuous labors of public 
and private life during the interval; the severe wound which 
shattered his hand received at a patrioitc demonstration, 
which never ceased to trouble him; a fall from a horse on 
the asphalt pavement at Washington, from which he was 
picked up bleeding and unconscious; the disease against 
which he vainly struggled and from which he finally died all 
combined to disable him, and in spite of all his efforts most 
heroic and most pathetic, to carry the burden of public ad- 
ministration and his large and extended private business, he 
was no longer equal to himself and to the work that lay before 
him. Lacking the touch of the master hand, certain large 
enterprises failed, and death finds his estate much dwindled. 

But as to these bequests, they were written with a generous 
hand. All of which he died possessed stands dedicated 
to these noble ends except a modest provision for his family, 
and whether it be much or whether it be little, when a man 



giveth all that he hath, that fills to the brim the measure of 
human generosity. 

Aaron T. Bliss had great consideration for the rights and 
the feelings of others. His heart was most compassionate 
and to the man who was down he never turned his back, 
but gave his hand instead. 

The one act for which Governor Bliss was severely criticized 
during his administration was the release from prison of a 
man who had sinned against the criminal laws of the state. 

Years have now passed and what actual harm has come 
to the state through this act of the Governor? 

Great hearted Lincoln saved many a condemned man from 
death when the very life of the Nation seemed to demand 
the punishment. 

The Secretary of War might rage, the public might rail, 
but his gentle nature has its merciful sway. 

Governor Bliss never could listen unmoved to the plea of 
any unfortunate nor to the cry of wife and child. 

Who can now condemn any act of mercy during his ad- 
ministration when it is judged under the higher law, that 
law which makes us pray to our Father in heaven not for 
justice but always for mercy. When the fountain of mercy 
runs dry we will be indeed athirst. 

This rare and generous quality of consideration for others 
made him many a friend, and won over to him many an enemy. 

As his army comrade has said, he sought office but in the 
sharp political contests of which he had many, he fought not 
to kill, not to wound, but to win, and win like a gentleman. 

He never from ambush hurled slur nor slander but fought 
in the open field according to the rules of honorable warfare. 
He had been a soldier in the war which ended when Grant 
and Lee shook hands at Appomattox, good fighters and good 
friends, and he never proved unworthy of that high example. 



My mind now turns to that faithful wife and devoted 
brother who gave to him of their strength, their sympathy, 
their love to a degree that I have never seen surpassed. "It 
seems as if there was nothing left to live for since Cap. is 
gone," said Dr. Bliss to me a few days after his brother died. 
It was a sad prophecy, for already he has followed him and 
when he was buried, though the day was bleak, hundreds of 
the poor people gathered to pay their tribute of respect and 
love to their friend who was in heart and deed "The good 
Physician.' ' 

And his wife, with her fine intelligence and quick and 
active sympathy with misfortune in whatever form it comes, 
may she dwell yet many years among us secure in the affec- 
tion of friends and solaced by the memories of a life nobly 
spent. 

In Bliss Park, that beautiful ground which was her hus- 
band's last gift to his city, little children are now playing, 
the grass is growing green, the grand forest trees are budding 
and plant and vine are ready to burst into leaf and blossom. 
May she live to see there builded, a monument to the generous 
donor. 

If this shall come to pass and on it shall be inscribed "Aaron 
T. Bliss, Governor of Michigan; Patriot, Philanthropist, 
Friend of the People,' ' all who knew their lives will remember 
that her heart warmed always his heart, that her hand upheld 
always his hand and helped him to an honored name. 



ijjM. (Efjarles §>mtii| 



IJotu (EJjarUa ^mittj, of Sjubbrll 

An English statesman once said to his auditors when the 
subject of their colonies was under discussion that they might 
sneer as much as they liked at the demands of the Americans, 
but the time would come when would be heard as the proud- 
est explanation of man, "I am an American." That predic- 
tion has come true. In a similar train of thought it is now 
said of such a man as Governor Bliss that he was a true 
American. A man, energetic, and determined to forge 
ahead by just means while according to every other man 
equal and exact justice and consideration. 

Governor Bliss as a young man had just made a small 
beginning in commercial life when the guns of Sumpter 
heralded through the land the unwelcome news that our 
matchless government and free institutions had been assailed. 

Commercialism and all the dreams of personal wealth and 
independence were cast aside and that patriotic fervor that 
was a chief characteristic to the day of his demise speedily 
enrolled his name among those noble warriors who bared 
their breasts for the defence of old Glory, and won for them- 
selves the plaudits of their fellow citizens, the admiration of 
the women of our land and a glorious immortality. 

Returning to commercial pursuits, by industry and energy 
he succeeded no less than in the line of battle. In the prose- 
cution of business pursuits, the management of men, or the 
conduct of civil offices from supervisor to congressman, he 
always achieved a high standing, amassed a comfortable 



fortune, and held a notable rank among the best citizens of 
the time. He constantly strove to lead an ideal life. He 
was indeed one whose manhood and generosity will always 
be remembered with approval and gratitude by people in 
general, especially those of his own city, which will for all 
time be better and more beautiful because of his bequests 
and the noble example of his upright manhood. 

My personal acquaintance with Governor Bliss was during 
the four years that he occupied the executive chair of our 
state. He was always approachable and sympathetic but 
was subservient to one's requests only when comporting with 
his own high sense of justice and the public welfare. He 
never, I believe, during his two terms acquiesced in anything 
or any measure not approved by his innermost conscience. 

The only sure bulwark of the state and nation is when 
our policies are shaped and our laws executed by men of 
great capacity who are guided by their own supreme ideals. 

While our citizens generally follow their own best thoughts, 
as did he, swerving not from the path of rectitude as marked 
out by his life work, no hindrance will come to the onward 
march of the cherished institutions of our beloved state or 
the true welfare of the people, and the splendid manhood 
American citizenship will ever inscribe prominently on their 
scroles of honor the name and worth of Governor Bliss. 



58 



~%an. Mit^ud % iioriartg 



2J0tt. IMirljael If. Ufariartg, of (Ergfltal MIb 

President pro tem. of the Senate 

This day having been fixed by the legislature of Michigan, 
to honor the memory of our late governor, the honorable 
Aaron T. Bliss, who died not long ago in the city of Milwaukee, 
where he had gone in search of health, it may not be improper 
for me to detain you just a little longer to refer to a few things 
he did while he was governor of our state. Much has been 
said of his . military and private life, and therefore, I shall 
speak only of his official and public career. The day he 
was nominated for governor by the Republicans of Michi- 
gan in the city of Grand Rapids, my soul was stirred by the 
music of fife and drum. I looked down the streets of that 
city and saw a vast army of gray-haired veterans marching 
to the step of martial music. At the head of that regiment 
of old soldiers, the color bearer proudly carried our flag and 
the stars and stripes was floating in the summer breeze. 

Those veterans, crippled with wounds and scarred 
with age were trying to march with the same youthful vigor 
as they used to do, when they were fighting for the black 
man's freedom. All along the line as far as I could see, 
those boys of '61 carried in their hands the banner of our 
dead governor, upon which was printed, "Vote for Aaron 
T. Bliss." I thought of the love and loyalty of those old 
heroes, and of the man for whom they were shouting, and 
it seemed to me that if he could win the love and confidence 
of his army comrades and hold it for nearly forty years, he 
was indeed fit to be governor of Michigan. When I came to 



the Senate in 1903, I learned to love him for the acts of char- 
ity and mercy that he performed. He was always doing 
something to make others happy, and there are many homes 
in Michigan which he found in tears that he filled with joy. 
With his own hands he fed the poor, and unsolicited he 
freely gave large sums to charitable institutions. 

When he was elected to Congress of these United States, 
he secured an appropriation to build a home for the education 
of the Indians of this state at Mt. Pleasant. He did not 
think it was really necessary for an Indian to die in order 
to be good, but he believed that if they were educated they 
would be good until they died. That he was right, has been 
amply demonstrated. His heart bled at the sight of a blind 
man groping his way along the street, and he thought of a 
plan to make the lives of these unfortunates less difficult to 
bear. If he could only induce the legislature to appropriate 
enough money to build them a home, in some pleasant city, 
where they could live and do something to help maintain 
themselves instead of groping their way through the world 
in total darkness asking alms, his joy would be complete. 
With this object in view, he prepared a bill providing for 
an institution for the adult blind, where the state and the 
blind man could work together in unison for his mainte- 
nance. Calling me into his office one day he told me of his 
plans, with his eyes brimful of tears and asked me if I would 
father the bill. To accomplish this end he worked until the 
close of the session and finally secured an appropriation for 
that purpose. Today in the city of Saginaw peacefully sleeps 
our late governor, free from public and private cares, and 
standing there is a magnificent institution for all of the adult 
blind of our beloved state, as an evidence of his last public 
work and a splendid monument for his grave. 



He was as gentle as a woman and his heart was as soft and 
kind, but when he faced a public or private duty he performed 
it with the courage of a giant. He never appointed a man 
to an office who did not perform the duties thus imposed 
faithfully and well. It is true he was criticized and libelled 
by the press, slandered and abused by those whom he refused 
to give offices, whenever he granted a parole or pardon to 
one whom he found worthy of executive clemency, yet stand- 
ing here this afternoon, I challenge the world to point to a 
single spot or place where graft or scandal was ever suspected 
in any of the departments of state during his terms of office. 
I want to say, Mr. President, that out there in the dark some- 
where is the end of life's journey for every living man, and 
if I were governor of Michigan I would rather tumble head- 
long into the arms of death with a goodly number of paroles 
and pardons charged to me as governor of a state, than to 
appear before my creator without any to my credit. I can 
think of no sadder beginning of eternal life, Mr. President, 
than to stand before the judgment throne of Almighty God 
pleading for the salvation of my soul with the tears of a gray 
haired mother, the heartaches of a devoted wife and the sobs 
of little children testifying to my heart of marble here on 
earth. 

Governor Bliss may have had his faults but they are buried 
one hundred thousand miles beneath the acts of charity and 
mercy performed by him while he was governor of our state. 
His memory may have passed out of the hearts and minds of 
those to whom I have alluded, but in the homes he made 
happy with the laughter of little children and in the hearts 
of those to whom he restored to liberty he will not be forgotten. 
And today and every day while they live, they will breathe 
forth a prayer for the salvation of his soul. 



63 



IGtft of Aaron ul SltB0 






liographual £ketrh. nf % £ift of Aaron ®. iBUaa 

By Major Herbert E. Johnson, Secretary to the Gov- 
ernor for the Years 1901-2-3-4 

Aaron T. Bliss, governor of Michigan for the years 1901-2- 
3-4, was a man of affairs, accustomed to the solving of knotty 
problems, and his growth from boyhood years to those of 
maturity was sturdily rooted in the hard soil of experience. 
Faithful in service he became high in honors, and praise 
stands silent in the dignity of his simple life from farmer boy 

to governor. 

Like many another American his life is an incentive to 
ambitious effort and a spur to accomplishment for the reason 
that he did things. His indomitable will would not be with- 
stood and he caught and held opportunity without waiting 
for it to call upon him. He was elemental in character and 
an analysis reveals a reverence for the moralities of life so 
strong as to be an abiding conviction that could not be departed 
from. He had the keenest respect for the sanctity of a promise 
and his loyalty to friends was proverbial. During the long 
years of life that were his the taint of scandal was not upon 
him, and he stood an honest man in the sight of his fellow- 
men. He was quick to forgive and to forget, seemed almost 
incapable of harboring a grudge and even at those times in 
his political life when he was most bitterly assailed was charit- 
able to his enemies, ascribing to them more worthy motives 
than the petty ones by which often they were governed. 
As a citizen, Mr. Bliss was distinguished for those qualities 



67 



which mark the men most prominent in the upbuilding of 
the typical American community, being interested in affairs 
and taking an active part in all matters having to do with 
the common good. His was a considerable part in promoting 
the growth of the city of Saginaw, where he made his home, 
in multiplying its industries and adding to its beauties and 
its pleasures. Large as were his activities he was never 
too busy to be a good neighbor and friend and many there 
are who have had occasion to be grateful because of his 
kindly and generous heart. With his wife he dispensed an 
unstinted hospitality and their home was always a pleasant 
place to visit. Though children of their own did not come 
to them, they gave to the children of relatives the same 
tender care they would have given to their own and were 
never so happy as when the voices of childhood were heard 
about them. Whenever he saw a group of children or young 
people having a good time he was never satisfied until he had 
in some way contributed to their enjoyment. 

As governor and as lawmaker, Mr. Bliss was faithful in the 
discharge of the duties resting upon him and he had a high 
regard for the solemnity of his oath of office. During the 
trying days of his governorship, more than once when im- 
portant and vexatious matters were being pressed upon him 
for a decision did he retire to his private room and upon bended 
knees ask Divine Providence for assistance and guidance. 
Such a man may make mistakes but his rectitude can never 
be assailed successfully nor his motives be impugned. His 
administration of the high office of governor of Michigan was 
without scandal among high or low and was marked by a 
great degree of economy and efficiency. His chief magistracy 
embraced four years of unbounded prosperity for Michigan, 
years when history was not made by lightning flashes but 



68 



in contentment and the ingathering of the stores of plenty, 
a period of relief from strain and stress, long days when the 
state waxed strong and prosperity abode in her homes. A 
picture not so lurid as the blazing lights of war and conten- 
tion, but far more satisfying. He left state affairs in better 
condition than he found them, and the general circumstances 
of his gubernatorial incumbency will give him high place 
among the names of those who have served the state well. 
He was a peace governor and gave to every interest of the 
commonwealth jealous care and attention, always mindful 
of the burdens of taxation and anxious that efficiency and 
economy should go hand in hand in the conduct of the affairs 
of state. 

The history of the Bliss family is a long and honorable 
one, enriched with Puritan traditions and brave service for 
God and country on both sides of the Atlantic. It is written 
that the founder of the family came to England with William 
the Conqueror, receiving signal honors at the hands of the 
new king, and it is entirely in keeping with the temper of 
this sturdy English ancestor that when the persecutions of 
the Puritans became so fierce Thomas Bliss, the founder of 
the American branch, "desiring to serve God according to 
the dictates of his conscience, left the country of his birth 
and came to the new world," settling at Hartford, 
in 1635. His descendants followed the movement of popu- 
lation westward and so it came about that in the year 1837, 
two hundred years later, there was born on the 22nd of May 
a seventh child in the family of Lyman Bliss who was a 
Madison county farmer in the state of New York, a child 
who was destined to become one of the governors of the state 
of Michigan which was then the youngest member of the 
federal union. Upon the lad were bestowed the family names 



69 



of Aaron and Thomas, and he grew to manhood sharing the 
blessings and the sorrows of six brothers and two sisters. 
In those days the educational advantages of western New York 
were not what they are today, schoolhouses being few and 
far between, and the children of this large family were more 
than ordinarily handicapped in the task of obtaining an 
education. The little red schoolhouse on a neighboring 
hill was at once grammar school and university, and there 
they qualified for a place among the thousands from other 
similar schools constituting the mightiest force that ever 
wrought for the progress of a nation. 

The ambitions of a lad were impatient to become those of 
a man, and life upon the farm for Aaron T. Bliss came to an 
end even before his boyhood had passed. As a boy he had 
dreamed of the large opportunities offered by the then almost 
unknown country of the middle west, but for years it was 
to be only a dream. At 17 years his first chance for partici- 
pation in the outside life came when he was offered a place 
as boy of all work in a grocery store in the little village of 
Morrisville nearby. It is an interesting story, the man coming 
to the field where Father Bliss and the boys were hoeing corn 
and asking for the bright-eyed lad who had attracted his atten- 
tion while on errands to the store. The father objected, said 
he did not like to spare his son, but the boy said "You know 
you have promised," and the father was never known to 
break his word. And so the future governor went bare- 
footed from the field to the house to wash and dress and 
kiss his mother good-bye for he was always an affectionate 
boy and very fond of his mother. As is the boy, so is the 
man, and it is noted that years afterwards when he had been 
nominated for governor and was led before the convention 
to acknowledge the honor, his first act was to kiss his wife. 



He remained in Morrisville nearly two years, working in 
the grocery store at $3.00 a week the later part of the time and 
when he left Morrisville for Bouckville, a village some nine 
miles away, he had accumulated the modest sum of $75.00. 
In his new home he engaged as clerk in the drygoods and 
grocery store of J. Burhans & Son, as a sort of protege of the 
uncle for whom he was named, and who had an interest in 
the store, which later was known by the name of Burhans & 
Bliss. He was so employed when the civil war broke out 
and the president called for troops. His name was first upon 
the muster rolls of the Peterman Guards which he was largely 
interested in organizing, and which became a part of Company 
D of the Tenth New York Cavalry. The circumstance of 
his muster-in is evidenced by a bronze tablet which many 
years after he caused to be erected in the little Methodist 
church in Bouckville and whereon it is recorded: 

"In this meeting house the following 24 members 
of Company D, Tenth New York Volunteer Cavalry, 
were sworn into the service of the United States 
October nth, 1861, for the defense of the Union." 

He aided in recruiting the company to its full strength and 
when it left Elmira for the front he wore upon his shoulders 
the straps of a first lieutenant having arisen from a sergeancy. 
A year later Governor Seymour of New York had commis- 
sioned him captain for gallant conduct upon the field of 
battle. The Tenth New York served in the Army of the 
Potomac, and was under Sheridan in the closing battles of 
the war. It took part altogether in 108 engagements, and 
lost, in killed and wounded more than 25 per cent of its men, 
and on the famous battlefield of Gettysburg its monument 
occupies a commanding position. Active service came to 



an end for Captain Bliss at the forks of a dusty country road 
in Virginia, known as Reams' Station. Here Wilson's troopers 
on one of their famous raids were brought to bay and so 
closely were they hemmed in that it became a question of the 
sacrifice of the few that the escape of the many might be 
made. A call for volunteers brought Captain Bliss and 200 
volunteers to the front and so fiercely did they defend the 
rear of the escaping command that when finally the confeder- 
ates broke through their hastily constructed entrenchments 
only a few were left to become prisoners of war. Wounded 
with a spent ball, Captain Bliss was dragged away to southern 
prisons, but he had the satisfaction of knowing the fight had 
not been in vain and that Wilson and his men had escaped. 
While on the way to Andersonville prison with five others he 
broke though the floor of the box car in which he was being 
transferred, and made his way to the woods. Bloodhounds 
were put on their trail and it became a case of each man for 
himself. Double twist and turn as he would, the fleeing 
soldier could not shake the hounds off, and it was not long 
before Captain Bliss was compelled to take refuge in a tree 
from which men with muskets dragged him down. Success- 
ively he was imprisoned in Salisbury, North Carolina, Ander- 
sonville and Macon, Georgia, and Charleston and Columbia, 
South Carolina. 

He was in prison at the time of the re-election of Abraham 
Lincoln, and participating in the prisoners' ballot he dis- 
regarded the jailer's warning that the election of Lincoln 
meant a continuation of the war, no exchange of prisoners, 
and a grave on the hillside for those within the rebel power. 
And as he cast the black bean, which was the Lincoln ballot, 
the valient soul within him made light of threats and he 
resolved on a bold strike for freedom. After several fruitless 



attempts he made his escape from Columbia prison, November 
29, 1864, and for 18 weary days and nights stumbled through 
the perils that beset him until on the morning of December 
16, nearly starved, ragged and footsore, he entered Sherman's 
lines near Savannah. Being without means of identification, 
he was taken before General Kilpatrick, whose rough welcome 
at once dispelled all thoughts that he might be a spy. From 
the headquarters of General Sherman he went to rejoin his 
regiment which was at Petersburg, but his health had been 
so undermined that he was compelled to resign from the 
service in February, 1865. 

Years later when this same rugged prisoner of war had 
become governor of Michigan, accompanied by a staff many 
of whom had seen service in the war of the rebellion, by 
committees of the house and senate, he visited once more the 
old prison stockade at Anderson ville, and dedicated the 
monument which the great Peninsular state had caused to 
be erected in memory of her gallant sons who had died there. 
I know of nothing more touching than these words from 
the speech he made that day: 

"It seems as but yesterday that the stockade reared 
its head about these grounds and the dead line warned 
'thus far and no farther.' I can see the dense masses 
of the prisoners and entering into their daily life, know 
as only experience can know, the life of a prisoner of 
war. It is one thing to serve as a soldier in the field, to 
endure the privations of camp and march, to face the 
madness of battle and endure its carnage; it is another 
thing to be herded behind walls whose never-sleeping eyes 
are loaded muskets, to exist beneath skies that are piti- 
less, dropping alternately scorching heat and the chill 



of rain, and to suffer day by day, to see death strike 
right and left, and to realize that one is helpless to do 
aught but endure it all as best one can; while outside 
the walls marches are made, battles are fought, and 
deeds are done for home and flag." 

The close of the war brought the day of which Captain 
Bliss had dreamed when a boy, when he might betake himself 
to the great west. The autumn of 1865 saw him in the Sag- 
inaw valley at the beginning of his successful career as a 
lumberman, penniless but brave in spirit. He went into 
the woods and the foreman who gave him work started him 
driving horses. Often in the winter mornings he saw the 
snow on his blanket where it had drifted in through the cracks 
in the shanty which sheltered him and his fellows. Almost 
from those first days in Saginaw there walked with him the 
brave little woman known and loved the length and breadth 
of the state, she, who was Allaseba M. Phelps, daughter of 
Ambrose Phelps, of Solsville, Madison county, N. Y., and 
whom he married, March 31, 1868. Those first days were 
very humble days indeed, the wife superintending the affairs 
of the mill boarding house while the husband was logging 
contractor, and later for himself, slowly but surely, laid the 
foundations of the fortune which was to bless not only those 
to whom its stewardship was given but many others. And 
as has been said by one who knew the wife well: " She was as 
tactful and helpful in those days as she was when the social 
duties of the wife of governor of Michigan devolved upon 
her. No success came to Governor Bliss to which Mrs. Bliss 
did not contribute, and no one appreciated it or was more 
ready to acknowledge it than was the governor." 

Captain Bliss was not one to long remain in the ranks, and 



in the fall of 1866 formed a partnership with his next oldest 
brother, Dr. L. W. Bliss and Dr. J. H. Jerome, and lumbered 
a tract on the Tobacco river under the name of A. T. Bliss & 
Co. For many years the firm of A. T. Bliss & Brother was 
one of the large employers *of the Saginaw valley, and its name 
a familiar one to all those who sought wealth in the forests 
of Michigan. A history of its operations would bring into 
recital the names of most of the men that the Saginaw valley 
has made known to the lumber world and with whom rela- 
tions of amity were sustained to the very end. In the early 
'8o's, Captain Bliss added banking to the list of his activities, 
being one of the organizers of the Citizens National Bank, 
of which he was president until it was merged in the Bank of 
Saginaw. He was one of the stockholders and directors of 
the Commercial National Bank and of the Saginaw County 
Savings Bank, of which institution he was president at the 
time he was elected governor. He was largely interested in 
many lines of business, but lumbering and banking were 
the principal enterprises to which he gave personal attention 
except the one favorite pursuit of farming. Born the son 
of a farmer, he never lost his love for the soil, and with his 
usual thrift made the farm pay, having under cultivation 
for years something like a thousand acres. 

With the foundations of his fortune securely laid, known 
as a keen business man, and backed by a splendid record as 
a soldier, Captain Bliss was peculiarly available for political 
honors, and the ladder of preferment once placed at his feet 
he climbed it round by round until the highest station in the 
state was his. It was when business life was making most 
demands upon him that his fellow citizens of Saginaw first 
called him into service, in turn electing him alderman, super- 
visor, and member of the board of education. As a memorial 



of his later services one of the school buildings of Saginaw 
bears his name. 

In 1882 he represented the 25th senatorial district (Saginaw 
county) in the state Legislature, in 1885 he was appointed 
aide on the staff of Governor Alger with the rank of colonel, 
and twelve years later came to him one of the honors which 
he esteemed the most, his election as Commander of the 
Department of Michigan, Grand Army of the Republic. 
In the meantime he had been serving as a member of the 
board of managers of the Michigan Soldiers' Home, and this 
was his public service when he entered the Fifty-first Congress 
as representative from the eighth congressional district. 
The monuments of his service in the congress which concern 
Michigan most are the splendid federal building at Saginaw 
and the great Indian school at Mount Pleasant, though in 
the book of the hereafter it may be that those will not com- 
pare with the grateful feelings which welled up from the 
hearts of the many hundreds of civil war veterans whom 
he aided in obtaining their rights under the pension laws 
of the United States or when those laws were inadequate, 
secured the enactment of special pension laws. 

Defeated for reelection in the great Democratic landslide 
of 1890, Colonel Bliss once more immersed himself in business, 
and in 1892 became a candidate for the Republican nomi- 
nation for governor. Though defeated at first, the movement 
in support of his candidacy grew steadily until, in June, 1900 
the famous Auditorium at Grand Rapids became the scene 
of his triumph when the fiercest fought nomination cam- 
paign in the history of the Republican party of the state of 
Michigan culminated in the Grand Rapids convention of 
that year. There were two other leading candidates for 
the nomination, the Hon. D. M. Ferry of Detroit, and the 



7" 



Hon. J. S. Stearns of Ludington, then secretary of state, and 
besides these there were the Hon. Chase S. Osborn of Sault 
Ste. Marie, the Hon. James O'Donnell of Jackson, and the 
Hon. Milo D. Campbell of Coldwater. The shifting and the 
sifting of the first day and the exciting seventeenth ballot 
of the second day eliminated all the other candidates except 
O'Donnell, who came face to face with Bliss in the last great 
trial of strength, the fighting forces of the convention having 
arrayed themselves under their banners. The eighteenth 
ballot was decisive and though another was required it had 
not progressed far before it became the typical political land- 
slide. Amid scenes of greatest enthusiasm the nomination 
of Colonel Bliss was declared, and committees were sent to 
escort the candidates, victor and vanquished, before the 
convention. 

William C. May bury, mayor of Detroit, was the Demo- 
cratic candidate for the gubernatorial office and the national 
and state campaigns during their course brought to Michigan 
the rough riding governor of New York, the Republican vice 
presidential candidate, Theodore Roosevelt. Enthusiasm 
was in the air, the triple button "McKinley, Roosevelt and 
Bliss" was in overwhelming demand and when November 
came the national and state tickets had swept Michigan by 
one of the greatest pluralities in [its history. And so the 
farmer boy of New York became governor of the peninsular 
state. 

An imposing civic and military display accompanied the 
governor-elect to Lansing where on New Year's Day, 1901, 
he took the oath of office as successor to Governor Hazen 
S. Pingree. He was re-elected in 1902, and served the state 
four years as chief executive. As has been said, these were 
years of peace and prosperity and the problems of this 



excutive were more those of supervision than of construction. 
Bringing to the office of governor a superbly trained business 
mind, Governor Bliss took up the discharge of the manifold 
duties imposed upon him with an almost painful minuteness 
of attention, and as the head of a large business pays atten- 
tion to and gives heed to the advice of the heads of department 
so did the governor listen with respect to the recommendations 
of the various great officers of state and aid them with all the 
powers vested in the office he held. 

As long as his health permitted, Governor Bliss gave 
personal attention to every matter of importance that reached 
the executive offices and many of his subordinates have strict 
recollection of the exactness of his memory with regard to 
the execution of each and every order made by him. Although 
appreciating the honor of his high position he had no partic- 
ular pride of office in the sense that term is many times used 
and never felt that it demeaned him in the least to wait per- 
sonally upon the most humble of his callers. It seemed 
many times to those who knew him most intimately as gov- 
ernor that memories of his own early days were with him, 
keeping his heart tender for those who had no one to make 
a fight for them or obtain audience when the rich and powerful 
of the state were pressing their demands. More than once 
the governor interfered personally and gave ear to some 
shabbily dressed man or woman when by right of priority 
of call others who exhibited every evidence of prosperity were 
entitled to be heard under the American law of "first come, 
first served.' ' I remember well one day during the time the 
Forty-second Legislature was in session. Matters were at 
fever heat and many of the biggest men in the state were 
besieging Lansing with the executive offices as the focal 
point. A shy, shrinking woman, poorly dressed, her face and 



78 



form bearing evidence of coming trial, pressed her way into 
the governor's offices, half fearfully and was vainly trying 
to get the attention of the colored guard at the inner door 
when suddenly that do'or opened and the governor hurried 
into the public office after some information. His keen eyes 
searched the crowd instinctively and in an instant had lighted 
upon the worried face of the woman. Stepping to her side 
he asked what he could do for her and heard her story of 
suffering and sorrow. Her husband who had committed 
some comparatively trifling offense was undergoing im- 
prisonment in the Detroit House of Correction. Calling the 
secretary of the Board of Pardons the governor was shortly 
put in possession of all the information he needed to con- 
vince him that the woman told the truth and ere the day was 
done sent her away happy over the release of her husband. 
Some six months later the wife, husband and baby came to 
the governor and the parents thanked him most heartily for 
his clemency. The governor took the babe, crowing con- 
tentedly, into his arms and said, "This happy little one and 
a saved father more than repays me. Michigan cannot 
have too many happy homes.'' 

His tender heart caused him more real grief than all the 
other troubles that beset him during the course of his admin- 
istration. A woman whose plea was not as rightly founded 
as was that of the one he made so happy obtained audience 
one day. The Board of Pardons had just refused clemency in 
the case of her husband and she was appealing to the governor. 
He heard her most patiently and as the tears coursed down 
her cheeks the governor's eyes melted as his own tears came 
in sympathy. When finally he had to tell the sorrowing 
supplicant that her prayer must be denied I doubt not that 
he was even more affected than was the woman who saw 
her chance for happiness disappear forever. 



Governor Bliss could be very stern and decided when he 
had resolved upon a course of action. Opposition only whetted 
his spirit and neither threats nor display of force sufficed to 
alter his plans. This is a far different picture of the man 
than his enemies loved to present to the public, but it cor- 
rectly represents him as the other did not. Had it been 
otherwise he would sometimes have faltered under the weight 
of the terrific and undeserved newspaper campaign waged 
against him. Not once did he open mouth to reply. He 
never sought to conciliate his enemies in spite of the fact that 
at times concessions would have brought assistance and 
might have afforded relief. A square administration was 
his goal and he had no other purpose in view. Early in his 
administration he alienated or at least made luke warm in 
his support certain of the political leaders of the upper penin- 
sula because he had decided not to appoint the man whom 
they had agreed to support for member of the State Tax 
Commission, and in this ran counter to the advice of men 
who were very close to him and upon whom he leaned as 
his strongest support. So tremendous was the pressure and 
so alluring the political advantage to be secured that the 
wonder is he did not grasp at what other men have grasped 
before. But he had counted the consequences and made 
the appointment in his own way. Instances could be multi- 
plied, varying in character and circumstance but all tending 
in support of the assertion that had he been merely self- 
seeking he might have made for himself much easier times. 

Governor Bliss has been absent from the field of action so 
brief a time and the period since his administration of state 
affairs terminated has been so short that from the historical 
point of view the relative importance of things accomplished 
may not yet be determinable, but it is certain that those four 



80 



years contributed materially to the welfare of the people of 
Michigan. Together with the attorney general he initiated 
the great legal fight to compel the railroad corporations of 
the state to pay at the same rate of taxation as that paid by 
tho other property of the commonwealth and so well laid 
were the plans, so able the men selected, that the fruits of this 
contest fought to conclusion under their successors in office 
were most imposing. He gave aid and assistance in the 
campaign for improving the system of making party nomi- 
nations, in speeches, in messages to the legislature and in 
official sanction of the local primary election measures. He 
was pronounced in his opposition to local corporation meas- 
ures under the guise of general laws, and on more than one 
occasion this ounce of prevention was of more importance 
than the traditional pound of cure. He warned again and 
again against the evil of unnecessary legislation, and never 
lost an opportunity to fight the practice of enacting special 
laws for localities or to hammer the custom of giving 
immediate effect to laws regardless of the existence of a 
constitutional emergency. 

The blind people of Michigan will never forget the governor 
because to him they owe the creation of the Employment 
Institution for the Blind, to the organization of which he 
gave personal attention and in its service enlisted the talents 
and energies of his close personal friends. He took a deep 
interest in the institutional works of the state and on more 
than one occasion commended the members of the various 
boards of control, who serve practically without compen- 
sation, for their patriotic devotion to the interests committed 
to their charge. 

Under his administration came the constitutional changes 
and legislative enactments that almost revolutionized the 



attitude of the state toward its criminal elements through 
the creation of the law of probation and the indeterminate 
sentence method of punishment, the basic principle of which 
is a helping hand for the man or woman who tries honestly 
to reform. These measures appealed strongly to the gover- 
nor and every means he could employ legitimately were used 
to bring about their accomplishment, and his satisfaction 
was pronounced when the enrolled acts were brought to him 
for his approval. He used these laws as often as it came 
within his power, for seemingly it was the bent of his nature 
to be extending a helping hand to the unfortunate and the 
erring. If conditions and circumstances would admit opening 
prison doors he believed that a man who had offended against 
the law but who had completely repented of his misdoing 
would be the better off and society more truly served through 
this man maintaining himself honestly and those dependent 
upon him, than to harden and embitter through punishment 
that was retaliation and nothing else. And it was a great 
satisfaction to him to know that less than one in ten who 
were released by him under the laws of parole were required 
to be returned to prison for infraction of the conditions of 
their release. No work of the state along the line of the pre- 
vention of crime appealed to him any more than the Industrial 
School for Boys at Lansing and the School for Girls at Adrian. 
He visited these institutions frequently, and many times 
the boys and the girls in those schools have had occasion to 
be grateful to him for gifts that enabled them to see life from 
new points of view. 

Governor Bliss had a clear vision of the economics of state 
affairs, and many of his views have been left of record in his 
state papers. He spoke, wrote, and gave personal assistance 
towards the cause of reforestation and was one of the pioneers 



in the cause of good roads. He took no mean part in the 
advancement of the agricultural and dairy interests of Mich- 
igan, and gave material support towards the establishment 
of a great state fair. 

At the age when most men obtain an education, Governor 
Bliss was in the armed service of his country and those years 
once passed, the opportunity in which every boy who will can 
share today, was not his again, and out of his loss was born a 
great desire to help in the education of others. This desire 
became a passion, and because of it and practical application 
to their lives scores of well educated men and women in this 
state today bear reverent witness of the good this man did. 
Great educational institutions, their work quickened and 
strengthened because of his generosity, stand as monuments 
that more than mutely mark the pathway along which he 
passed, and it can be said of him truly that wherever he 
rested, blessings grew. He had the creative spirit and under 
its inspiration there sprang into existence the institution at 
Mt. Pleasant for the education of the Indian boys and girls 
and the good it has accomplished will mark for all time his 
congressional service. Through his membership in the 
Michigan legislature and subsequent appointment to the board 
to organize and locate the Michigan Soldiers' Home, much 
is due for that great pile of buildings at Grand Rapids wherein 
are sheltered the remnants of those battalions that once 
were the very life blood of the nation. At Saginaw, fronting 
the buildings of the Employment Institution for the Blind 
are the grounds of the splendid recreation park which he 
gave to the boys and girls of the city wherein they might 
make merry for all time to come, and again in Saginaw and 
in the little town of Peterboro, New York, are monuments of 
stone and iron erected by him in memory of the comrades 
with whom he served during the civil war. 

83 



The first interruption of the governor's activities came 
near the close of his first term, and when he was residing in 
Lansing. Lagrippe struck him a deadly blow and for days 
his life fairly trembled in the balance but his sturdy consti- 
tution apparently won for him then as it had on other occa- 
sions as far as could be seen. The ensuing campaign and 
the challenge to political combat roused the old fighter as 
nothing else could have done, and he went from a sick bed 
to the thickest of one of the hottest contests of his career. 
He did not falter once and when the Detroit convention 
had resulted in a decisive victory, he appeared before the 
convention and pledged his best efforts for the common wel- 
fare, little thinking that he was to be a passive spectator during 
most of the campaign. The weakened heart was not equal 
to the demands made upon it, and held the governor in his 
home. He was not a well man during the greater portion 
of his second term, but so firmly did he conceal his condition 
that only a very few realized the difficulties under which he 
labored, and I verily believe that sometimes he deceived even 
himself as to his health. He was just as devoted to duty, as 
considerate and kindly as ever, and not until the last task 
was completed did he give way in the stern struggle. After 
he was once more established in his home in Saginaw and 
surrounded by the scenes to which he had been accustomed, 
he appeared to recover his strength, and it was there, on the 
occasion of his 68th birthday anniversary that occurred what 
was one of the most pleasant experiences of his life, the 
presentation to him of a silver loving cup by the members 
of his military staff during his term as governor. The men 
who assembled in his home that evening to testify their 
love and admiration, little dreamed that for him the close 
of life was so near. The first summons came at Flint, 



84 



August 31, 1905, when en route to the national encampment 
of the Grand Army of the Republic at Denver, he was stricken 
with apoplexy. A special train carried him back to Saginaw 
where his devoted brother, Dr. L. W. Bliss, began his tireless 
vigil and the unequal contest with the "reaper whose name 
is Death.' ' At times the governor was well enough to attend 
to business matters that required special consideration, and 
at others the failing tide of life sank so low that even the 
tireless brother-physician abandoned hope. An iron will 
bore up the governor and he was sustained by the deter- 
mination that had never yet failed. Trips were made to 
various parts of the country in a vain effort to find relief 
from the ever present danger but the end came finally at 
the Sacred Heart Sanitarium in Milwaukee, Sunday, Septem- 
ber 16, 1906. 

Then came the day of sorrow. The love and esteem in 
which Governor Bliss was held turned the thoughts of the 
commonwealth to the home in Saginaw where, under the 
flag he loved so well he lay on a couch sleeping the last dream- 
less sleep. The soldiery of the state waited at the portal of 
that home the while ministers of God brought the last con- 
solations of religion to the family that were to give up their 
loved one. The casket was borne to the stately hall of the 
Masonic Temple, where it was banked with flowers and wrapped 
in the folds of Old Glory. Soldiers kept watch o'er the silent 
form while the people of Saginaw, yes, the people of Mich- 
igan, by thousands took one last look upon the countenance 
of him who more than anything else during life had desired 
the love of mankind, and had not wearied in well doing. 
Side by side with the faltering comrades of the civil war 
were the chief men of the state, governor and commoner; 
there were widows and little children who had known of the 



85 



tenderness of him who lay there, and so through the long 
hours of the day walked the good deeds of the man who was 
gone and which had risen up to call him blessed. 

Words of eulogy from men who had known him many 
years of his life, glad words of comfort and cheer, song and 
prayer, the uniforms of Templar and soldier, the tense faces 
of the multitude that waited in the streets, were but the 
beginning of the panorama that rolled to the very gates of 
Forest Lawn Cemetery, where opened the doors of the granite 
walled chamber of sleep. And when he was lain therein, 
and the smoke of three volleys had floated over him, and taps 
had spoken to him the solemn words of the soldier's farewell, 
the last rays of the sinking sun floated through the western 
clouds and rested in benediction above his resting place. 



80 






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